UNPUBLISHED

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS

FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT

No. 15-6955

ALTON DOCHERTY, Alton Dockherty,

Petitioner Appellant,
v.
DENNIS BUSH,
Respondent - Appellee.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of
South Carolina, at Greenville. Timothy M. Cain, District Judge.
(6:14-cv-02835-TMC)

Submitted:

October 29, 2015

Decided:

November 6, 2015

Before SHEDD and KEENAN, Circuit Judges, and HAMILTON, Senior

Circuit Judge.

Dismissed by unpublished per curiam opinion.

Alton Docherty, Appellant Pro Se. William Edgar Salter, III,

Assistant
Attorney
General,
Donald
John
Zelenka,
Senior
Assistant Attorney General, Columbia, South Carolina, for
Appellee.

Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.

PER CURIAM:
Alton Docherty seeks to appeal the district courts order
accepting the recommendation of the magistrate judge and denying
relief on his 28 U.S.C. 2254 (2012) petition.
not

appealable

unless

circuit

certificate of appealability.
A

certificate

of

justice

or

The order is

judge

issues

28 U.S.C. 2253(c)(1)(A) (2012).

appealability

will

not

issue

absent

substantial showing of the denial of a constitutional right.

28 U.S.C. 2253(c)(2) (2012).
relief

on

the

demonstrating
district

merits,
that

courts

debatable

or

prisoner

reasonable

assessment

wrong.

When the district court denies

satisfies

jurists

would

of

the

v.

McDaniel,

Slack

this

standard

find

constitutional
529

U.S.

by

that

the

claims

is

473,

484

(2000); see Miller-El v. Cockrell, 537 U.S. 322, 336-38 (2003).

When the district court denies relief on procedural grounds, the
prisoner must demonstrate both that the dispositive procedural
ruling is debatable, and that the petition states a debatable
claim of the denial of a constitutional right.

Slack, 529 U.S.

at 484-85.
We have independently reviewed the record and conclude that
Docherty has not made the requisite showing.

Accordingly, we

deny a certificate of appealability and dismiss the appeal.

dispense

with

oral

argument

because

the

facts

and

We

legal

contentions

are

adequately

presented

in

the

materials

before

this court and argument would not aid the decisional process.

DISMISSED